Total Eclipse of The Heart
by regnum
Summary: I wrote a sequel....it's been a long time coming but this is the sequel to Dear Diary read that first....T & P everyone! [ Smabbi-san ]


# Total Eclipse of The Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, some extremely rich guy in Japan does. (Think of the money I'd save if I did though!)

A/N: What is with the songs as titles? Ah well, it seemed to fit. ^.^ Domo arigato to all the wonderful people who reviewed Dear Diary. This is the sequel, so if you haven't read Dear Diary yet I suggest you do. It takes place about a year after Dear Diary. Enjoy the fic and as always…review!! 

~*!*~ 

"I'm really sorry Pan." 

"No, it's okay…I've got a paper to write anyway." Pan replied softly. 

"Call you when I get home?" He asked worriedly. 

"Yeah, whatever…bye." She hung up abruptly.

"Aish-" He was cut off by the dial tone. "-iteru" Trunks finished softly. He replaced the phone in its cradle gently. She had sounded so…hurt, and he hated hurting her. He stood up, running a hand through his lavender locks and strode from the office.

"Mr Briefs?" His secretary looked up questioningly. 

"I'm leaving." He said shortly. 

"Demo…what about preparation for the meeting with Mr Fujiyama tomorrow and the papers for the new deal?" Her words only pressed down the weight on his shoulders, after all, the company was his and he was responsible for it. If his mother knew he was leaving without getting all this work done…He shrugged it off. There were more important things on his mind. Not responding, he walked out of the room, leaving an open-mouthed woman in his wake. 

~*!*~

Pan gritted her teeth, taking her frustration out on the battered punching bag. She snorted in a very saiya-jin way. "Work…it's always work!" Flipping her long black hair out of her eyes she concentrated on her 'opponent'. After a particularly violent attack, the bag fell to the floor and dust filled the room. Coughing, Pan stumbled out of the room, bumping into her father.

"Pan-chan, what on earth…" Gohan paused, taking in the chaos that once was the weights room. "Um…never mind. Are you okay?" 

"Hai tousan, it's just dust." Pan said, blinking rapidly. 

"Weren't you and Trunks supposed to go out tonight?" Gohan had finally come to terms with the fact that his 'little girl' was an adult and could look after herself. Of course it had taken a lot of persuasion from Videl and Pan, and a lot of running by Trunks to make him less protective. But, if ever Trunks hurt his little girl…

_ _

"Yeah, but he's swamped with work so he called, apologized and cancelled." Pan said, unable to hide the bitter note in her voice. There was no need to let her father know that this was the third time he had broken a date this week. _'Surely he doesn't have **that** much work!' _

"Oh." Gohan said, awkwardly. He was never quite sure what to do in a situation like this. He decided that consolation was his best option "It's okay honey, you can go out tomorrow." He gave his daughter a hug. 

"Yeah." _'If he doesn't call and cancel again.'_

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Gohan asked, Pan seemed out of it. "You'll probably feel better tomorrow." 

"Hai." Pan gave Gohan a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight tousan." 

~*!*~ 

She sat and stared at the stars. As a child she'd often wondered what was out there. Now she had actually gone there and seen for herself, but none of her experiences could ever dim her love for the night sky Sometimes she wondered what it would have been like growing up on her grandfather's home planet of Vegeta-sei. There wasn't really anyone she could ask. Her oji-san, had he been around, wouldn't know anyway, he himself had never been there. And Vegeta would just ramble on about how he would have been king by now. 

It would have been different, Trunks would be prince or at least royalty, and she would just be, as Vegeta often put it, a lowly third class warrior. Not fit for the company of a prince. Not fit to love or be loved by a prince. Except she did love him, and she thought that he loved her too, but now, the cancelled dates were piling up. She hadn't seen him or even talked to him properly in a week. _'Maybe it just wasn't meant to be…'_ Pan sighed, she sat upright and tucked her knees under her chin. Was his work more important to him than her?

_ _

~*!*~

He sensed her ki on his way home, it had been hours since he had left the office. Not that he'd been flying around aimlessly. On the contrary, he'd been quite busy. A slight smirk graced his features at that. He had run into Goten and the new flavour of the month, it had been hard to keep his 'errand' a secret. Goten's date had been about as blonde as one could get. _'Not so long ago you would have dated a girl like that'_ He reminded himself. Well, the night had been a complete waste of time, perhaps he should have just gone on the date with Pan. He sensed her ki again, pulling at the back of his mind. _'Well, maybe not a complete waste…'_ He hadn't seen Pan in what seemed like forever, he altered course, now heading in her direction.

_ _

~*!*~

She was so distracted that she didn't even sense his ki. She didn't realise he was there until he spoke. "What are you doing out so late?" She jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, but didn't bother turning. He sat down next to her, the wind ruffling his light hair ever so slightly. Patiently he waited for a reply. Studying her out of the corner of his eye. The starlight gave her an unearthly glow, he'd swear that she was really an angel, his angel. Her hair moved slightly in the breeze, ebony tresses, darker than the night sky. 

"Thinking." It was murmured softly, but he was saiya-jin, at least in part. He heard her. "I couldn't sleep." She elaborated, just in case he hadn't heard, even though she knew he had. Gently, she leaned her head on his shoulder, savouring the moment. Time's like this had been far and few lately. Lately, everything was different. It was getting hard to convince herself that nothing was wrong; that the man she loved wasn't avoiding her. Lately…

He heard her gentle sigh. "Well?" He asked half-teasingly, "What were you thinking about my Pan-chan?" Her long hair fell, half down his back, half down hers. Her head shifted slightly on his shoulder. He took a quick glance at her face and was surprised to see her chewing her lip, her expression was uncertain. "Pan?" 

Another sigh. "Just…about stuff." She said, resigned. _'About us…are you avoiding me Trunks?'_

Thinking she was still annoyed about him breaking their date that night, he hastened to apologize yet again. "Pan-chan, I'm sorry about breaking our date tonight." He murmured softly. "It's just been so busy in the office lately…" A half-truth, he didn't want to lie. It was busy in the office lately; he just hadn't been there to oversee the busyness. He hated lying to her. _'Forgive me Pan-chan.'_

_ _

"I know, you don't have to apologize a million times in one night Trunks." Surprisingly, her voice held annoyance. _'What are you hiding Trunks? Why are you lying?' _She forced a smile. It was too easy to know when he was lying. Just his expression, his tone gave it away. He had never been. An awkward silence fell over the couple. "I – I should probably get home, you need to sleep too. Busy day tomorrow right?" She couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice, even though she tried. 

"Pan-chan, I-" Too late, she was gone. 

~*!*~

Maybe she had been too hard on him. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Pan felt a little guilty for leaving things as she had. She squinted at the sunlight that flooded her room. She didn't have any classes until this afternoon. She'd call Trunks now and apologize, maybe they could get together later for lunch or breakfast or whatever. She just needed to apologize, to make sure everything was okay. She picked up the phone and began to dial.

~*!*~ 

Trunks was halfway to Capsule Corp when his cellphone began ringing. "Moshi moshi?" 

"Trunks-chan?" He was relieved to hear Pan's voice. It had been fairly obvious last night that she was less than pleased with him. He'd hate to think what he would do if he lost her. _'I should have followed her when she left last night…maybe she's still angry.'_

"Hai. What's up Pan-chan?" He asked enthusiastically, hoping she wasn't mad, that she wasn't calling just to break up with him. Pan wasn't that cold was she?

Pan smiled at that. It was like all was forgiven without her asking, unfortunately she still felt guilty and would most likely continue to if she didn't at least apologize. "About last night…I was just a little on edge and tired and I-gomen ne Trunks-chan. Forgive me?" She finished. 

"Of course!" He laughed, "It's already forgotten." Trunks stopped outside his office building, wanting to finish the conversation before he went in. He would rather his love life wasn't the subject of office gossip. 

"Are you busy today?" Trunks mentally ran over the list of things he had to do. _'Meeting…can be pushed back…papers…less than urgent…'_ His mother might categorize them somewhat differently, but his mother wasn't here. 

"Not too busy for lunch with you Pan-chan." He said, making a mental note of his rendezvous that afternoon. 

~*!*~

A small restaurant on the corner of two streets. A nice enough place, it made good money, it had a regular crowd. It was where the couple had chosen to meet for lunch. 'Lunch' had been going on for about thirty minutes now and they were still going strong. 

Pan looked up from her food to see Trunks glaring behind her. "What's the problem?" She asked. 

"Nothing." Trunks growled, blushing slightly. That in itself made if obvious that he was lying. He looked at his plate and evidently found the ingredients of his meal fascinating. 

"Trunks-chan…" Pan began teasingly. "C'mon tell me." She pleaded. He muttered something under his breath, so low that even she couldn't hear. "Nani?" She asked sweetly, enjoying tormenting him. He was just so cute when he was embarrassed. He spoke again, slightly louder this time.

"Ijustdon'tlikethewaythatguy'slookingatyou." He said in a rush. 

Pan smiled at him, not the usual Son smile, more like a Vegeta smirk. He decided that she was enjoying this far too much. "What was that Trunks-chan?" 

Trunks sighed, there was no way out of it. "That guy." He muttered, gesturing vaguely with a fork. "He's staring at you." 

Pan turned, seeing for the first time the man sitting not far from them. The man blushed slightly when Pan looked his way. She flashed him a dazzling smile, then turned back to face her boyfriend the smile still on her face. "He's kinda cute." She said with a wicked grin. 

Trunks choked on his food. "NANI?!" 

Pan felt his ki start to rise and laughed, continuing her sentence. "But not as cute as you." 

Trunks sat back in the chair he had half-risen out of, his heart rate returned to normal. For the first time he realised the scene he just made. His cheeks flushed pink. "Pan!" He hissed, praying that his skin colour would soon return to normal. 

She just laughed merrily and shook her head. "Trunks-chan, you're so funny." She lowered her voice slightly. "And I love you." 

His heart melted and he blushed even redder. "Pan…" She seemed to be getting a real kick out of seeing how red he could go. Pan just laughed again, she looked down at her watch and gasped. "My class starts in five minutes!" She wailed. 

"I'll fly you." Trunks offered, wanting to spend more time with her. He signalled for the bill. But Pan shook her head. 

"No, don't. It's not that I don't want to spend more time with you, but you have to get to work." She said, trying to ignore the pleading look he had on his face. 

"I don't **have** to. Plus I'm faster than you are." He widened his eyes and pouted. "Please Pan-chan?" 

The look he was giving her was too much for her to ignore and besides, she knew he could be as stubborn as Vegeta when he wanted to. "Fine." She sighed. "But we'll see who's faster next time we spar." She muttered under her breath. Trunks heard her and stifled a laugh.__

~*!*~ 

Pan ignored the envious looks she received when the handsome Capsule Corps president arrived at the university with her in his arms. She looked at her watch. "Hmm…three minutes, not bad." She mused, "But I could have done it in two." She smirked at him. 

Trunks just rolled his eyes. "Don't you have a class to get to?" He asked teasingly. 

Pan looked around the campus, "Yeah, but as soon as I leave all those girls will be all over you." She said with a sigh. 

"Now who's jealous?" Trunks nipped her lightly on the nose. "Have a good day, I love you, I'll call you." He smiled. 

Pan gave him a soft kiss on the lips, "Have fun in the office boxer-boy." She ran up the steps to wherever her class was, leaving Trunks to wonder how one woman could have him so wrapped around her little finger.

~*!*~ 

Pan grumbled under her breath as she left the building. Classes had been a disaster; it had taken all her willpower not to blow up the entire university. She was sick of nosy people cornering her and asking her about her 'relationship with the president of Capsule Corp. She stuffed the paper she had written about Greek Mythology back in her backpack where hopefully it would vanish and reappear a week later with a passing mark. Not caring who saw, she blasted off as soon as she was outside. The sooner she got away the better. 

She sensed his ki not far away and changed direction. Pan needed someone to vent to and she knew that Trunks would listen, somehow he always managed to make her feel better. Briefly she wondered what he was doing downtown instead of being in the office, but shrugged it off; after all, Bra's birthday was next week. And he **was** the president. 

He was in a jewellery shop. Wanting to surprise him, she waited outside. Pan bit her lip as a woman, thin with red hair and dressed in the latest fashion approached him. Pan didn't know her but it seemed that Trunks did as he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. Pan tasted blood in her mouth. She watched as the two of them bent over, heads close together looking at a display of rings. 

Trunks gave a triumphant shout, pointing excitedly at a ring. His companion smiled and nodded. The man behind the counter boxed the ring and handed it to Trunks, who was smiling like a little kid at Christmas. That was the final straw for Pan. _'That lying, cheating, no good, son of -' _She left, not bothering to hide her ki. Tears streamed down her face.

~*!*~

Trunks grinned excitedly at Carly. He was glad he had finally found the perfect ring, impulsively he hugged her. "Thanks so much for giving me a hand Carly," he said enthusiastically. He had known her since high school, they had been in the same science class. He had called her out of desperation, he needed to find a ring and it seemed like he had searched every jewellery shop in Satan City. 

"No prob Trunks-kun." Carly said brightly. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd actually want to settle down. I **have** to meet this girl." She laughed. 

Trunks was about to laugh with her but he felt a strong, very familiar ki. _'Pan…'_ She was mad about something, he could often sense her feelings, he had asked his father about it and Vegeta had just muttered something about a Saiya-jin bond and his blood and Kakarott's mixing. Then the ouji had gone to the gravity room to train, leaving a somewhat confused Trunks behind.

__

"I – I've got to go Carly." He grabbed the bag containing the ring and left. 

~*!*~ 

Furiously, Pan swiped at the tears that ran down her face. _'I am not going to cry over him. I am not going to cry over him…'_ She had done far too much crying over Trunks in her lifetime. She could remember all the tears she had cried whenever he got a new girlfriend, and how happy she was when they broke up.It was a seeming eternal cycle, as he went through girlfriends she would go through tears and joy, but it always ended with her crying. _'Looks like it doesn't matter if it's a crush or if we're dating.'_ She thought bitterly. _'Dende why can't I just be happy?!' _She screamed in her mind. Her hurt was replaced by anger. Anger at herself for believing him every time he said that he loved her and anger at him for leading her on, for lying. Her ki flickered and an aura surrounded her. She screamed again, out loud this time, rage rushed through her system and, unthinkingly she began to power up. Her eyes flashed teal and her hair floated up in a cloud, turning gold and forming spikes, which fell down her back. With her heightened senses she felt a familiar ki heading her way. Pan growled low under her breath. _'So this is what it's like to be Super Saiya-jin…just wait Trunks, you've hurt me for the last time…'_ A cocky smirk crossed her lips, all that was left to do now was wait. 

~*!*~

Trunks hesitated when he felt her ki rise to new levels. _'What if she's in trouble?'_ He was close now, picking up speed he focused on the area where she was, praying to Dende that she wasn't hurt. 

~*!*~

WHAM! Trunks went flying back and hit a tree. "What…" He muttered, he hadn't even seen the hit coming. Groaning softly he pulled himself out of the shattered remains of the tree. "Pan?" He called, looking around. His eyes landed on the woman not far from him. Her back was to him and the power he felt emanating from her was immense. She turned, mouth twisted into a snarl and he recognised her. _'Pan? A super saiya-jin?'_ He tried calling her again, "Pan-chan?" 

No response. Not a verbal one anyway, he felt her powering up. "KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!!!!" She screamed throwing the ball of light at him. Trunks's instincts told him to block the ki blast. Gritting his teeth he tried to hold it back, but Pan kept pumping more ki into it. 

"PAN!" He yelled, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" He too began to power up, realising that as he was he was no match for a super saiya-jin. With more power, he was able to deflect the ki blast into the atmosphere. "Pan?" With a snarl the quarter saiya-jin flew at him and began attacking, her blows were moving at such a speed that Trunks was hard-pressed to block them. _'I knew I shouldn't have stopped training seriously'_ He still had a slight advantage, he was more experienced in battle. However, the way Pan was fighting, he had no idea if that advantage would be any help. 

He really didn't want to hurt Pan, but he had to stop her. Ducking her blow, Trunks managed to knock her flat and pin her down. "Pan…calm down, just…stop!" She struggled but his grip was firm. With a scream she powered up even more and knocked his hands loose. She flew up and aimed a blast straight at him. "MASSENKO!!" 

~*!*~

Vegeta frowned, glancing out the window. _'Funny, that's Kakarott's brat's brat, but her ki shouldn't be so high…and there's my brat.'_ "Hmph." He grunted in his usual fashion, assuming they were sparring. 

"What was that dear?" Bulma called from her place in the kitchen where she was 'attempting' to make dinner. 

"Nothing." Vegeta replied, shrugging off the unusually high power levels. 

~*!*~

"What's the matter Gohan?" Videl asked her husband, he had been staring into space for some minutes now and was starting to worry her. 

"Hmm? Oh it's just…Pan's ki. But I've never felt it this high before." Gohan murmured, distracted. "And Trunks…I think they're fighting." 

Videl looked at him, "Are they okay?" 

Gohan didn't reply.

~*!*~

Trunks managed to narrowly dodge the blast. "Pan! What's the matter?" He yelled into the sky. "Pan-chan!? _'C'mon Pan, answer me! I don't want to hurt you!'_ Trunks wasn't sure if he could actually beat Pan at this point in time. Despite Pan and his father bugging him, he had not been training due to work. Pan had. He knew for a fact that she had been sparring with his father regularly. Somehow, the thought did not reassure him. Especially with the aggressive way she was fighting. 

He blocked another blast, but wasn't prepared for Pan to phase in and kick him in the ribs. He went flying right into a nearby park bench, smashing the wooden structure to toothpicks. He groaned softly and coughed up blood. Damn. She'd broken at least one rib. 

Pan didn't even wait for him to recover. She dove at him and started attacking his upper body. She gave a snarl of pain when Trunks managed to connect a blow and began attacking harder. She wanted him to pay! 

~*!*~

Trunks didn't even know what he was doing in the crater and how he'd gotten there. All he knew was that he was in great pain. He coughed up more blood. Squinting he focused on the figure hovering above him. He could only see out of one eye, the other one was swollen and dried blood obscured what little he could see. 

"Does it hurt?" She called tauntingly. "Does it hurt Trunks?" Pan smiled bitterly. "Does it hurt as much as I do Trunks? Huh?" A single tear rolled down her cheek. "I am **done** crying over you Trunks Vegeta Briefs!" The tear was gone, only anger remained. Pan powered up again. "KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!!!!!" She screamed.

Trunks closed his eyes as the bright ball of light approached him and waited for impact. 

~*!*~

He waited for the pain to overtake him completely…and, nothing. He opened his eyes again. A man standing above him, blocking the blast. He watched as the blast was deflected into the atmosphere and a hand was offered to help him up. He found himself looking into familiar, dark eyes. 

Goku supported Trunks with one arm. He looked up at his granddaughter who was still in the air. "Panny-chan…that's enough." He said softly. 

Pan lowered her arms. "Ojii-chan?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. Abruptly she dropped out of super saiya-jin, her hair and eyes returning to their normal colour. She was unable to hold herself in the air anymore and plummeted to the ground in a dead faint. 

Goku left Trunks leaning against a tree and easily caught his granddaughter. Shouldering both of the young people he flew off. 

~*!*~

Vegeta sensed the familiar ki and answered the door. "Kakarott." He said with a smirk. "It's about time you came back." 

"Vegeta?" Bulma called, "Is there someone at the door?" She came up behind her husband and stopped in shock. "Son-kun?" She asked unbelievingly. 

"Hai.' Goku replied, somewhat urgently, he was glad to see his friends again but now wasn't really the time for a long drawn out reunion. "Bulma I need two rejuvenation tanks." He stepped into the light and for the first time both Bulma and Vegeta noticed the unconscious youths he was carrying. 

"Oh my Dende." Bulma gasped softly. "Follow me Goku-san." 

~*!*~

"What happened Kakarott?" Vegeta asked impatiently, watching Bulma place Trunks then Pan in the healing chambers. 

"They were fighting." Goku said simply. 

Vegeta growled under his breath, "I know that baka! Why?" 

Goku just shook his head, "I don't know. Pan was doing the fighting really, Trunks was barely able to defend himself." 

Vegeta looked at his son, the liquid in the tanks distorted the image of him, but Vegeta could see that he was pretty badly injured. "Hmph." He snorted softly under his breath, "I knew the girl was strong, but not that strong. Foolish brat." Both Bulma and Goku knew that that was Vegeta's way of expressing concern for his son. 

"'Strong' isn't the word." Goku piped up, "She hit super saiya-jin." 

Bulma looked at the couple in the tanks and sighed, "I'll call Gohan." 

~*!*~

"She WHAT?!" Gohan yelled, managing to wake up his wife in the process. Videl sat up sleepily, yawning. Her eyes, however, were alert, watching her husband. Gohan lowered his voice. "Are they both okay?" **That** got Videl's attention. She watched, waiting for Gohan to hang up. 

"What's the matter?" She asked worriedly. 

Gohan climbed out of bed and began dressing hurriedly, "It's Pan. She and Trunks were fighting and they're both pretty beat up. That was Bulma." 

"Fighting?" Videl echoed as she too began to get dressed. Noticing the look Gohan was giving her, she glared at him stubbornly. "I'm coming too."

~*!*~

Trunks's lavender hair floated upwards in the green-blue water of the tank. Bulma watched her son carefully, he had been the worst injured and she was worried. Vegeta said she worried too much but she couldn't help it, he was, after all, her firstborn. What Bulma couldn't understand was why he and Pan had been fighting; they had always seemed close, even before they had started dating. She rested her head on the cool glass of the tank tiredly but raised it again when she heard a knock on the door signalling Gohan and Videl's arrival. Vegeta exchanged a look with his mate. Then in an extraordinary gesture of compassion he said that he would answer the door. Bulma smiled in thanks. 

Goku was observing his granddaughter, even unconscious, in the tank, she seemed angry. Her eyes were clenched shut and there was a tightness around her jaw. '_What could have hurt her so much?'_ He wondered silently. He glanced at the other tank, _'Not Trunks?'_ Since youth Trunks had always had a sort of fondness for Pan, he would never hurt Pan intentionally. Goku felt confused, he had been away for such a long time and matters in this realm were unknown to him. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't even hear his son and daughter-in-law enter the room. 

~*!*~

Gohan entered the room followed by Videl and Vegeta. Bulma offered a wan smile. "Hi guys. They'll be out of the tanks in a couple of hours, you didn't need come over straight away. You could have gotten some sleep." 

Videl gave the older woman a hug. "We wouldn't be able to sleep anyway Bulma-san." 

Gohan eyed both of the tanks, "What happened Bulma?" His eyes fell on the figure sitting in the corner of the room. "T-tousan?" 

Goku looked up and for the first time noticed his son. "Gohan!" He smiled, the goofy grin that both his sons had inherited. 

"Tousan, how…when…mum's gonna kill you!" Gohan exclaimed happily, embracing his father. 

Goku laughed, out of all the people he'd missed he had missed Chi Chi the most, "I know son, I know." 

~*!*~

When Pan awoke she was lying on a bed in the Capsule Corp infirmary. Trunks was in the bed across from her. Bits and pieces of what had happened filtered into her brain. She remembered being angry at Trunks and turning super saiya-jin for the first time. She also remembered beating him within an inch of his life and getting beat up in the process, and she remembered…Ojii-chan! She sat up and the room blurred for an instant before coming back into focus. 

There was a groan from the other bed as Trunks awakened. He opened azure eyes to find ebony pools staring at him in hatred. 

~*!*~

Bulma awoke when she heard shouting coming from the infirmary. Surprisingly Vegeta was still asleep, normally he was up before her. He should have been awake now, especially with superior saiya-jin hearing. She rubbed her eyes tiredly and decided to go see what all the fuss was about.

~*!*~

"Pan-chan!" 

"Don't call me Pan-chan! Youare the lowest scum -"

Trunks ducked as a first aid kit was thrown at his head. "Can't we talk about this like normal people?" He whined. 

"I don't want to talk to you!" Pan screamed at him, looking around for more stuff to throw. 

"Pan calm down…" Trunks tried to offer advice. Surprisingly, Pan took it. 

"You're right." She took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk to you, I don't want to see you and I am going to leave now. You can go find your little bimbo and do whatever you want." Pan said coldly. She started for the door but was halted by the grip on her arm. "Let go." 

"No. I'm not letting go until you tell me what the HFIL you're talking about." Trunks said stubbornly. 

"Don't act so innocent. I saw you and your little friend in the jewellery store yesterday." Pan turned away so he wouldn't see the tears welling up in her eyes. "Now, let me go." 

"Pan…"

"No. No more excuses Trunks." She pulled her arm free and left, bumping into Bulma on the way out. "Gomen Bulma-san." She apologised politely. 

"Pan where are you going? Your parents are here." 

"Honto? Could you please tell them that I just needed to get some fresh air Bulma?" Pan was proud of the way she was managing to keep her voice calm. "I'll be back later." 

"Wait! Pan…" The front door shut quickly. "…what happened last night?" Bulma finished belatedly. Bulma continued on her way to the infirmary, intending to check up on her son. As she reached it, the door flung open and Trunks burst out, almost bowling her over. 

"Kasan!" Trunks yelped in surprise. "Did you see Pan?" He asked worriedly, peering down the corridor. 

"Hai, she said she needed some fresh air. She left about two minutes ago." Bulma said as she got up from the floor. 

"Arigato kasan!" Trunks called already halfway out the door. 

"Trunks! Where are you…" The door slammed shut. "…going?" Exasperated, Bulma looked into the infirmary. Her blue eyes widened and steam shot from her ears. There were bandages and medical equipment thrown everywhere and one of the tables was overturned. "Dende what did I ever do to you?" Bulma sighed. 

~*!*~

She flew to her favourite spot, the beach. She just needed to clear her head of Trunks. She didn't need him. At least that was what she was trying to convince herself. She didn't need him to hold her when she was upset, to spar with when she was frustrated…she didn't need him. _'Yeah right.'_ Pan thought bitterly. _'You share a **bond**. Face it Pan, you need him more than you know.'_ At this point in time, she was crying. _'Dende, you must really like torturing me.'_ Pan was really tempted to fly to Kami's lookout and give the namekian a piece of her mind. She stared out over the horizon, tears streaming from her eyes and thought about life without Trunks, without the bond that they shared. 

~*!*~

He had to find her. At first he hadn't known what she was talking about, but when she mentioned the jewellery store it had all clicked into place. _'Oh Pan-chan, this is all a misunderstanding.'_ He had to find her. He had to explain. And, he checked his pocket to make sure the ring was still there, he had to ask her. 

~*!*~

"What do you want?" 

Trunks walked softly up to her and sat down. Pan didn't even bother to face him. "I told you that I didn't want to see you."

"I know. But I want to see you." He said. "I want to explain…" She opened her mouth to tell him exactly what she thought of his explanations but he covered it with his hand. "…about yesterday. Carly is an old friend from school. An old, married friend. She was helping me out with something." Slowly he removed his hand from her mouth. "I would never cheat on you Pan-chan." He finished in a firm tone. 

Pan didn't say anything for a moment. "I feel like an idiot." She muttered. "Gomen ne Trunks-chan. I- I guess I was just stressed and worried and you were being so distant…I mean you always had work…" She was cut off when Trunks kissed her.

It was silent after the kiss. Trunks wrapped his arms around her and she leaned into the embrace. There was no need to ask for forgiveness, the kiss and its acceptance was apology and forgiveness both. It was Pan who finally broke the silence. "What was she helping you with? Something for Bra's birthday?" 

"No." Trunks was starting to feel nervous. _'Oh Dende…don't screw this up Trunks, you only get one chance to ask her this…'_ He in his pocket for the small velvet box. "She was helping me with this." He smiled, showing her the ring. "Marry me Pan-chan?" He whispered in her ear. 

She looked up at him, shock evident on her face. "Trunks…" Pan looked at the ring, it was a thin gold band with a single sapphire stone in the shape of a heart set in the middle, two small diamonds on each side flanked the heart. "Yes." She whispered softly. 

A radiant smile on his face, he slipped the ring onto her finger. "I love you, my Pan-chan." He murmured into her hair. She answered him with a sweet kiss. 

~*!*~

A/N: Finally! I finished it! Yay! *performs the dance of joy* ^.^() This took so long to write…not for lack of inspiration but because it was hard to write the fight scene and a lot of the character interaction. Incidentally, I didn't mean for the fight scene. That part just wrote itself, which is kind of scary. This is also my very first beta read fic. (Can you tell the difference?) So especially thanks to Smee-chan for beta reading and constantly telling me to finish it…some might say enforcing me to finish it…but I wouldn't. ^.^ Anyway, review it and tell me what you think!! Arigato to all the people who reviewed Dear Diary. This fic is in teal as a special favour to Smeegee-chan. 

© 2000-12-02

Smabbi-san 


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